A standard utensil that serves to wash dishes, pots and pans, windows, cars, and the like has a hollow handle adapted to hold a supply of detergent and carrying at a front end a brush or sponge. A feed tube that communicates with the interior of the handle extends into the brush so that the detergent can be dosed directly thereto. Thus the user can add detergent while using the device for effective cleaning and scrubbing action.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,225,101 of Conk such a utensil is shown which has a hollow handle whose one longitudinal end extends into a sponge. The sponge is held between a flange on the handle and a washer spaced forward therefrom and connected to this flange by bolts. Thus the sponge, which here is of fairly solid material, is held solidly so long as it does not soften too much. In this case the complicated connection must be tightened. Such an arrangement is therefore expensive to manufacture and requires some adjustment in use.
In U.S. Pat. No. 2,998,614 of Winch the handle fits within a cleaning swab shaped like a pocket. Lateral barbs on the side of the front handle end are intended to retain the pocket on the swab. Nonetheless the swab can slip off the handle and only a relatively thin swab can be used.
The arrangement of Belgian Pat. No. 630,997 filed Apr. 12, 1963 by J. Boel has a sponge surrounding the perforated front end of the handle and having a collar that extends back around the handle and that is clamped thereto by a ring. This style of connection is fairly fragile, as the collar of the sponge can tear off relatively easily.
French Pat. No. 8,208,044 filed May 10, 1982 M. S. Puebla describes another such utensil where the sponge is glued to a rigid element that can be snap-fitted onto the open front end of the handle. The disadvantage of this arrangement is that the support element is applied over a major face of the sponge so that only one face of the sponge is available for use in washing. In addition there is leakage at the joint between the carrying plate and the handle, and the glue that holds the sponge to the carrying element rapidly breaks down and the sponge falls off.